Casimir Pulaski Day 2025 is on Monday, March 3, 2025: who was casmir Pulaski?

Monday, March 3, 2025 is Casimir Pulaski Day 2025.

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Casimir Pulaski, son of Count Joseph Pulaski, was born in Warsaw, Poland, on March 6, 1745. At the age of fifteen, he joined his father and other members of the Polish nobility in opposing the Russian and Prussian interference in Polish affairs. Outlawed by Russia for his actions on behalf of Polish liberty, he traveled to Paris where he met Benjamin Franklin, who induced him to support the colonies against England in the American Revolution. Pulaski, impressed with the ideals of a new nation struggling to be free, volunteered his services. Franklin wrote to George Washington describing the young Pole as "an officer renowned throughout Europe for the courage and bravery he displayed in defense of his country's freedom."

In 1777, Pulaski arrived in Philadelphia where he met General Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Later, at Brandywine, he came to the aid of Washington's forces and distinguished himself as a brilliant military tactician. For his efforts, Congress appointed him Brigadier-General in charge of Four Horse Brigades. Then again, at the Battle of Germantown, Pulaski's knowledge of warfare assisted General Washington and his men in securing victory for American forces.

Later in 1778, through Washington's intervention, Congress approved the establishment of the Cavalry and put Pulaski at its head. Pulaski, who became known as the "Father of the American Cavalry," demanded much of his men and trained them in tried and tested cavalry tactics, many of which he used in his fight for freedom in Poland. Pulaski often used his own personal finances, when allocations from Congress were scarce, in order to assure his forces of the finest equipment and personal safety.

Pulaski on Battlefield

Pulaski and his Legion were then ordered to defend Little Egg Harbor in New Jersey and Minisink on the Delaware; they then proceeded south to Charleston, South Carolina. It was on October 9, 1779, during the Battle of Savannah, that General Pulaski, charging into battle on horseback, fell to the ground mortally wounded by the blast of a cannon. Pulaski's enemies were so impressed with his courage, that they spared him the musket and permitted him to be carried from the battlefield. Pulaski died several days later on October 15, 1779, at age 34. The Pulaski Monument, erected in his honor, is located in Monterey.

Do you celebrate Casimir Pulaski Day?

We don't have that here in Houston.

That's a great Sufjan Stevens song, though.

Okay a little trivia for all of ya, this should be quite easy. ♥?

Casimir Pulaski Day is a regional United States holiday celebrated on the first Monday of every March to commemorate Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born March 4, 1747. It is celebrated mainly in areas which have large Polish populations.

Illinois enacted a law on June 20, 1977 to celebrate the birthday of Casimir Pulaski and held the first official Pulaski Day celebrations in 1978. Chicago celebrates Pulaski Day with an annual parade, and many Illinois school children are given the day off. However, as the percentage of Polish Americans in Illinois drops and as fewer Polish Americans are elected to office, more and more schools in the state are opting out of observing the holiday. The holiday is also a special observance day in Wisconsin public schools, celebrated March 4th, as outlined in state statute 118.02. While not a state holiday, Indiana also marks the day as a commemorative day by governor's proclamation (IC 1-1-12.5).

Michigan-born songwriter Sufjan Stevens titled a song "Casimir Pulaski Day" on his album Illinois (or alternately, Illinoise ). The song is not specifically about the celebration but about a personal event that took place "in the morning, in the winter shade, on the first of March, on the holiday." Chicago-based rock band Big Black had a 1985 song titled "Kasimir S. Pulaski Day".

The United States created the federal General Pulaski Memorial Day in 1937, which commemorates Pulaski's death at the Siege of Savannah on October 11, 1779. The New York City Pulaski Day Parade and Pulaski Days in Grand Rapids, Michigan use this date.